TWO York secondary schools now have one head teacher.

City of York Council has said that the current head at Joseph Rowntree School in New Earswick, Richard Crane, will now become executive head at both his own school and Canon Lee in Clifton.

The governing bodies of both schools have agreed the move. The council says that Canon Lee's current acting head Frances Johnston will continue to play a vital role as associate head teacher of Canon Lee School.

Mr Crane said: “This is a great opportunity to create a successful partnership between the two schools which will enable them to collaborate and share best practice and resources to ensure students in both schools get the best possible educational experience.

"I’m really looking forward to working with Frances and the team at Canon Lee as well as continuing to drive forward improvements at Joseph Rowntree School. Many schools are increasingly collaborating more closely, and this is a real opportunity to be innovative in order to get the best possible educational experience for students in both schools.”

Jon Stonehouse, Director of Children's Services, Education and Skills at City of York Council, said: “We are delighted that the governing bodies of Canon Lee and Joseph Rowntree Schools have agreed to the appointment of Richard as the new executive head teacher of both schools.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for the two schools, led by an established head teacher, to develop a mutually supportive collaborative relationship that will build upon the strengths in each. I’d like to thank Frances for her dedication and commitment to Canon Lee and its community.

“Our absolute priority is to ensure that pupils at both schools receive the best possible education and the council will continue to work with the governors, school staff, parents and the young people themselves to achieve this.”

Mr Crane took over at Joseph Rowntree in 2013 after Maggi Wright retired. He was formerly head at the then 600-pupil Ryedale School at Nawton.

Ms Johnston took over as acting head at Canon Lee in December last year when former head Christine Holbrey stepped down after two years at the helm.

Joseph Rowntree School has about 1,200 pupils and Canon Lee about 577.

Letters were sent out to parents at both schools today.